indiepanda

Well, I would have thought being selfindulgent and watching your favourite TV shows is something that could be done most weeks but meeting a group of new potential friends isn't that frequent a possibility. The pressure to have a good time is more or less in the mind... I think most of us imagine other people are paying more attention to us than they really are. Truth is most people are too wrapped up in their own worries to notice anyone other than those they are really close to. If you go then I'd suggest arriving early so you can get introduced to people as they arrive - it can feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but it's actually easier than arriving later when you can get the impression everyone already knows each other well, although in practice some of them were probably only introduced a couple of hours earlier.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > indiepanda's explanation is good... should make it > clear to the slowest of maths brains. You should > be a teacher! :) I'll take that as a compliment

Do you really know no one at this party? Or just very few people? Despite the fact it's overhyped and can sometimes be a bit disappointing as a result, staying in alone wouldn't be my choice. Though having said that with various friends being either away or not going out because of family committments I might end up doing that for the first time in about 15 years myself. Would I suppose make a nice change not to start the new year with a hangover....

My mum gave up trying to get me to mass a loooong while ago. When she realized her "the devil is going to come and get you" threats didn't work she didn't have anything else left to throw at me.

I know. Might want to try with a piece of string not to scale of course!

Or if the algebra doesn't work, try trying a piece of string/wool/cotton in a loop and just see the difference in the area inside based on how you hold it. Put a finger in each end and hold it tight and you get the long skinny garden without much inside - spread it out on a piece of paper so it looks like a circle and suddenly lots more space inside - the more rectangular version is closer to the long skinny and the squarer version is closer to the circle.

What was the first Beatles single and which chart position did it reach on original realease in the UK? Love me do, and only number 17

charliecharlie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan > > don't know what happened here, normally such a > good writer, it was SO bad that I thought he might > written it as some strange kind of joke, or to see > what the critics said (to see if they fell for > it... Emperor's Clothes syndrome, etc) Ah, that is the only one of his I have read - I did feel distinctly underwhelmed and didn't intend to read any others by him, but perhaps that is too hasty a decision.

I gather the bookies had Tom as slight favourite over Rachel before the final even started, and to get through to the final two he had to score top with the public based on his ballroom and latin, so I suspect he might have won even if his showdance was no better than Rachel's. Let's not forget, he hadn't been in a dance off where both of the others had. I do think his showdance was streets ahead of the others though - and it was evident the audience in the studio from the long standing ovation and the judges from their comments all agreed. So perhaps the right person did win - I always think the showdance is the one point where they have a real chance to put their personality across and show us what they can do when they aren't forced to do say a latin if they are better at ballroom. I am not sure it's as simple as women not voting for attractive women if they don't have a "thing" - Jill Halfpenny was a pretty, down to earth northern girl who had a good acting career, I don't recall her attracting the sympathy vote. And Natasha Kaplinsky - beautiful and intelligent, (although dumb enough to have a fling with the engaged Brendan Cole...) usually the kind that would attract jealousy if anyone would. I think you get a number of factors coming into play on top of how good a dancer the celeb is relative to the other competitors:- - how popular their professional partner is - let's face it Camilla is pretty attractive. - how good a teacher & choreographer their professional partner is - I think Lilia does very well with her dance partners for example. - whether they get the wrong dance the wrong week - e.g. Austin Healy or Cherie Lunghi this series - how well known they were before the series started - GMTV stars seem to do way better than their skills warrant and East Enders stars sometimes do too - how much they play up to the audience - John Sargeant for example - how ambitious they seem - I do think the more ambitious girls get more punished than the guys - I think there is a lot of prejudice against ambition in women - seen as less feminine - attractiveness of celeb - I am sure it helps the guys a bit.. girls, harder to say - but Christine Bleakley is very attractive - I would say more so than Lisa to be honest, and yet Lisa ended up in dance off when Christine should have on points. - how positive the celeb is - whinging gets you nowhere. I do know my dad was just as keen on Tom as I was going into the final and I know quite a few other guys who rated him - one claimed to have voted 200 times for him - and he was straight! I think Camilla was a big asset to him - my dad really liked her choreography... he didn't comment on her looks, but she's hardly ugly! For me, Lisa lacked star quality, I found most of her dances a little forgettable - unlike Alesha last year. And the show dance was awful in my eyes, dreadful choice of music, trashy outfit, and looked more like an acrobatic stunt than a dance. And being paired with the incredible sulk can't have helped her cause - Brendan's stroppiness is very unattractive. I felt Rachel got some pointed comments earlier on the series about not using her eyes enough and letting her personality shine through which she got much better at, but personally I felt Lisa had the same issue and they never picked her up on it. I never felt emotionally engaged with her dances in the same way as I did Rachel or Tom's, even if I did think Tom overacted his Paso and Tango. I do think Rachel was the best dancer overall. But as someone with no dance training to appreciate the finer points of her skill, I simply found Tom that bit more entertaining - his quickstep especially. Though I think Rachel's rhumba and her Argentine Tango were otherwise the standout dances of the series - the rhumba because it is so hard for people to score well in and she made it look easy, and the Argentine because even I could tell Vincent had come up with exceptionally challenging choreography which Rachel tackled exceptionally well. Anyway, I expect all of the top scorers will get a bit of a career boost out of it, and for all they say about loving the dance, I am sure that is part of the reason they take part! Roll on the Christmas special - I gather they pre-recorded that and have had scoring problems again!!!

I was raised a Catholic and it was this sort of thing that was the final straw for me and religion. I have a horrible feeling my mum still believes in this sort of bigoted c**p... even my dad who isn't religious thinks that homosexuality is a mental illness... and worst of all, my uncle once described homosexuality as being only one step up from peadophilia, and I think he really meant it (he isn't religious either) It's not a subject I care to discuss with my family now because I find their views so offensive and no matter what I said, they wouldn't change them. I don't think all Catholics universally follow what the pope says though - I went to a Catholic school and most of the girls didn't come from huge families - plenty were just two child families like mine. And my mum said the local priest used to tell female parishioners that contraception was between them and their concience and he wouldn't tell them not to use it. Having said that, my mum was always a follower of the old vatican roulette method... tough the gamble paid off for her. However, I certainly wouldn't fancy having to stick a thermometer up my a**e every morning to check my temperature & work out if it was safe to have sex!

Moos Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I thought DM's post was funny - surely there's > room for the passionate fan as well as for some > gentle fun-poking, IP? > > (sorry if that's provoking - I meant it in a > friendly way) > > I think we should have an EDF spin-off with IP and > Annaj leading the charge - now THAT I'd watch with > great alacrity! :) No, not provoking, I did say "at the time" not in general. Maybe it's something to do with living on my own, but when I'm all bubbling up with excitement I like to share it with someone and I don't always have that instant gratification of someone in the room to share it with. Sometimes the internet provides that outlet, and sometimes it doesn't. I know I can't expect anyone to pander to my interests, but it's fun when they do! I'm usually the first to laugh at myself. Still, my family are every much fans as I am (my parents even met at a ballroom dancing class, though I don't think they have danced together for many years now) so I can indulge myself when I go home for Christmas.

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > indiepanda - probably best not to read all of > DulwichMum's posts at face value To be honest, I didn't, I thought she was trying to be funny... but at that time I was very excited but what I'd seen and wanted to hear from someone else who had enjoyed it as much as me not someone using it as an excuse for a "joke". Rosie & Keef, totally agree with your comments on Tom's dance, saw it again on BBC breakfast this morning and it still put a huge smile on my face. I don't know if he can sing, but if he does I would love to see him in a musical, he had just got that star quality. Camilla deserves a lot of praise for her choreography too. Not just in their show dance - the quickstep they did in the main series and the foxtrot in the final all had that Hollywood magic.

dulwichmum Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think that the BBC should put a stop to this > type of thing. I just saw Duffy sing her fabulous > hit ditty while a pair of gaszelle like simpletons > with jazz hands and rictus grins pranced about in > spangles. It really is not for everyone. > > I prefer my men to drag their knuckles on the > ground when they walk. There is something about a > man in a shirt respembling a pair of black 15 > denier "barely there" tights that puts me off my > Chablis. Mens nipples should never be visible > through their shirts. > > Really now, what happened to great films? Yawn, if you don't like it, don't watch it, put a DVD of a great film on instead. Strictly may not be for everyone, but it gets very high viewing figures, the BBC would be crazy to stop what must be one of their most popular shows.

Did anyone else watch the final tonight? Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I adored Tom and Camilla's show dance - it was just perfect... I want to watch it all over again now!

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 1984 is a book that I found to be very hard work. > Obviously it has a lot to say, and it's well > written and all that, but frankly it bored me. Me too. it's one of the few books I've started and not got beyond the first few chapters. Mind you it was over 20 years ago I tried (during english lit GCSE) The other one that really defeated me was by Kazuo Ishiguro - the guy who wrote The Remains of the Day which I liked, but his next book, The Unconsoled was dreadful - like having a confusing dream, which to be fair I think it was meant to be, but it was torture nonetheless. I can remember trying to read The Silmarilion when I was a kid, but it didn't hook me, loved Hobbit and LOTR though. Oh and agree on Wuthering Heights too - I was so disappointed - was meant to be some great romance, and you open the book up and discover one of them is already dead, and it becomes clear quickly neither of them are very nice people either. All too turgid for my liking, same as the rest of the miserable Bronte sisters output. Stick to Jane Austen, much more enjoyable. I did manage to finish the Da Vinci Code, but I refused to buy a new copy, just got a tatty one from a charity shop, and it was as bad a pot boiler as I expected it to be, went straight back in the charity shop afterwards. Can add Dickens to the mix too - one writer who is better on TV / film - the plots are good enough and watching cuts out all his waffle - was he paid by the word or something.... yawn. Though again, I last tried to read him 20 years ago... might appreciate it now.

I am bound to make loads of resolutions, hoping to become some kind of super fit, glamourous, totally organised person... and then end up as the year goes on settling for trying not to end up any fatter at the end than I was at the start of the year and not forgetting too many important birthdays etc... I do like that clean sheet feeling at the start of a new year though, always feels full of potential.

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Unsurprisingly I'm with Sean on this one. > > I couldn't give two hoots who believes what as > long as it doesn't intefere with my life or cause > ill towards others. Unfortunately in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses it does cause ill to others - they would rather refuse a blood transfusion for their sick child than let them have a life saving transfusion. I'm all for adults to make that choice for themselves if they really want to (although if they have dependants I would be less supportive) but to make that choice on behalf of your child makes my blood boil. I used to live next door to a Jehovah's Witness family, and they were very nice people and we got on well despite our religious differences (I was raised Catholic, though no churchgoer these days), but I really didn't like that aspect of their belief. Particularly because I asked some who knocked on our door them to show me the evidence from the bible for the belief, and the passages they showed me were clearly all about eating kosher meat, not blood transfusions. They'd just read it too literally. Couldn't fault them for dedication to their beliefs though. And always polite when they came calling, despite the fact as a teenager I used to quite enjoy teasing them about their beliefs - e.g. the 144,000 thing - you know, asking how they would feel if they happened to be the 144,001st person to qualify for heaven and end up getting stuck down here with us because they'd run out of space.

I get on the bus at Underhill Road (near CPT) and if I get a 12 I always get a seat, not so easy on the 197, but it's never too full to get on. I don't often find I have long to wait for a bus. I tend to have to wait longer in the evening to get bus back from Peckham Rye, but that's probably cos I often work quite late. I've lived on Crystal Palace Road since the summer - I like it, not too noisy but easy to get to Lordship Lane.

EastDulwich Perhaps I should be more specific Within the 20s > to 30s bracket :) *waves* over here...

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > PeckhamRose > > You have been to Swindon haven't you? A cure-all > they are not Ah, c'mon now, the magic roundabout is a work of art... http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/images/2007/10/22/msn_magic_roundabout_470x350.jpg My driving instructor took me on there on my second driving lesson... not my idea of fun!

Jah Lush Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If a girl ever calls you "nice" or "cute" then you > can forget about shagging her. Lol, very true. Not because "nice" in itself is bad, but if I really like a guy I can find something much more specific to say about them than they are "nice"... nice is just a bland word that doesn't really tell you anything much - kind of damning with faint praise. And cute... well, teddy bears and kittens are "cute", not men I fancy.

Anywhere with good enough music to give it atmosphere but not so loud I can't hear myself think would get my vote. CPT high on my list, and not just because I am a lazy wotsit who would like the idea of only rolling one block down the road to the pub (though that could be part of it!)

Argh, destiny, what a load of c**p. I agree these things tend to take advantage of people. If you really need someone to listen to your problems, you'd be better off seeing a counsellor. Not that all of them are brilliant, but at least they shouldn't spout complete and utter rubbish like destiny. Oh, and agree wholeheartedly about McKeith... that woman is hardly a good advertisment for her lifestyle - she looks drawn taut in the face - not exactly raidiantly healthy. And the program is a joke, pick anyone who is huge and eats a scary diet and get them to lay off and eat some more veggies and fruit for a month and of course they will lose weight, but it doesn't really prove her way is ideal, just not as bad as what they were doing before.

Wow, the standard really is so high this series - the bottom two could have easily been finalists in other series. My feeling is Lisa will be out next week and it will be Tom and Rachel in the final but it so depends what dances they get. I think I'd like to see Tom win, technically he hasn't been the best each week though he definately improved this last week, but I've found him the most entertaining - really loved that Fred Astairesque tap routine that he did - think it was at the top of his quick step. I know everyone says they love the dance, but I really get the sense he has always been a dance fan, it's not just about the competition. And I did find it touching when he was looking teary after their ballroom dance this week - tugged at my heart strings (I know, I'm a sap..:-$)

People are rarely willing to accept their house really isn't worth what they thought it was when prices are going down, takes a while before reality kicks in and they are willing to cut the price... course, they are perfectly willing to believe their house can rise in value at an astronomic rate without the economic reality justifying such rapid increases.... I don't think I will be considering putting my toe back in the market until 2010, possibly later.